Time in the Hospital

Time in the Hospital

Recently, I had the unfortunate privilege to stay at the hospital for almost all of May. This was thanks to a traffic accident by the
way. The pain and stress of the ordeal was more than enough to deal with. But I
had to go and get theists coming up to my bedside and wanting to preach the
wonderful word of Christ to me.

God Saved Me

My stay began with everyone claiming that yes it was “god” who had saved me. And that I should be grateful to god, without whom I would
not be alive today. Some even went as far as saying that they had prayed that
god would do something to show me a way back to him. As far as they were
concerned, their prayers were answered. God had stopped me in my tracks and was
opening my eyes, telling me to return to the fold. Too bad they were disappointed
when I told them that I still reject their god.

I admit the accident was bad. I admit, I could have died. I admit again that I could not have saved myself from the wreckage. But I deny
that it was a god that intervened. And I deny it was any particular brand of
god (in this case, they were sure, 100% positive, that the god of the bible
saved me).First they need to prove that I was saved by a god. Then they need to
prove it was their god which saved me. So far I have no reason to believe
neither.

Church Visits the Hospital Ward

There was this church which visited the ward a few time while I was there. They’d gather in the center and begin mouthing off about
god, Jesus and the need for salvation. For the most part I ignored them. I had
this epic fiction novel that kept me much more entertained than that group ever
could. The group consisted of a 50-something –year-old man and about eight or
so women, ranging in age from late thirties to above fifty. They would sing for
about 20 minutes straight. Then the guy, who I assumed was the pastor would offer
a sermon on redemption and the need of Christ. He seemed to talk a lot on
topics of the end times. But, as I said, I did not follow them long enough, so
I can’t give details.

It was interesting, though to see how some of the “wilder” patients on the ward would shout out and sing “halleluyah” with the church
group.

I recall, though that persons from the group would look over my way while they were doing their thing, perhaps wondering why I was not
joining them and doing my own thing instead.

Debates within the Ward

When the word got out that I was an atheist I got a lot of attention from the nurses, other patients and visitors. It began with one of
the ward aids. She had learned that I did not believe in god, and to her that
was the most fascinating thing ever. She had to speak with me herself. So she
came over, after her shift, and began the interrogation. Pretty soon the nurses
jumped in, then some of the patients. Their arguments were typically the same
stuff you hear from typical Christians:

How can you look at the world and how it is beautifully made and say that there is no god?

Who made you? (To which I would answer, “my mom and dad”. To which they would reply: “so who made your mom and dad”. I would reply with: “their
moms and dads!”)

There were other stuff but I can’t recall right now. But these two were the most common arguments they used.

I even got into an argument about evolution. This young guy (visitor for a patient on the ward) was claiming that evolution meant that man
came from monkeys. The guy even had the audacity to claim that he was training
to be a priest or something and that he had studied evolution. I was like: “WTF?”
and began laughing my ass off at the ridiculousness of it all.

Visitors from Hell?

Then there were the visitors. I’m not talking about family or friends who came to see me. I’m talking about those church folks who feel it
is their duty from god to come into the hospital ward on an otherwise peaceful and
quiet Sunday afternoon and preach to the “lost”. These people have no idea who
you are. They just come up to your bed, without your permission, I might add,
and begin their spiel. Most of the time they see me reading or otherwise
occupied doing my own thing. But they don’t say to themselves they are
disturbing someone. No. They are on a mission from god. So they have every
authority to walk over and begin delivering his message. WTF? I was so pissed
at one point (well I was extremely pissed at many points) that I told this lady
to get out of my sight, that I did not even invite her over. She was obviously
surprised and immediately left the ward visibly shaken by my response (although
it was a bit tame). Although I guess I must have been much more intimidating
than my words would suggest. Haha.

Replies to This Discussion

I am sorry to hear of your hospital ordeal but I enjoyed reading about your experiences. I could easily visualise all that you were saying. I feel that many christians deliberately sit and wait for that moment of misfortune to come to the atheist. They then run from behind the curtain screaming that it is some type of divine message which always ends up being, " You need to turn to God!"

Glad you stuck to your guns, maybe you made them think at some level. At least you put paid to the "no atheists in foxholes" myth.

I see no reason to give up the fight just because I'm near death. Besides if I'm near death I'll soon know what's really beyond this life (not that i think there is anything). So I'll stick to my guns till i fizzle out like a flame.

Besides, it makes for epicness (if that's a real word) when you're fighting this BS to the end with everyone around you saying how hard headed you are. Haha.

O boy! do I know all about those ppl that visit and without permission come up to you to pray. I was born with sickle cell (bad red blood cells) so I spent a great deal of my life visiting the hospital. Usually when they come on the ward I just pretend i'm asleep but there are the bold ones that still come and pray over you while you sleep... (lol yup they do)
What really ticks me off is when people ask me about my condition and then say "Don't worry GOD loves you and will protect you, you just keep praying" WTF!! isn't "GOD" the one who made me this way in the first place? and you want me to thank him?!?!?
With that said, Yes! my health has played a big part in my disbelief. it's not easy being told that you have a shorter life than most. I've been asking "Why?, How?, When?" all my life till the day I stopped.
and realized there was no one listening.
Anyway, I should stop now and avoid hijacking your thread.
Maybe one day I would speak out, but for now I guess I will just sleep :p

There's no hijacking in this, Kevin. I appreciate your contribution. Thanks for sharing (haha, I'm recalling that scene in "Hancock" haha). In any case, please feel free to start your own discussion. Whatever is on your mind.

@ What Kevin said tho!
I always wonder the same, people have cancer and the believers are like....pray! And in my mind I think....So I am to pray to the person who was so kind to give this person cancer that he would change his mind and take back the cancer.................? How does that make sense?

I am glad to hear that you are getting better. The "logic" of the faithful is amazing to me. Millions of people all over the world die every day for any number of reasons and God saved you so that you could see the light. Preposterous.